Track drill



Nov. 6, 1928. 1,690,102

J. L. CHRISTIAN TRACK DRILL Filed Oct. 9, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 6, 1928. 1,690,102

J. L. CHRISTIAN TRACK DRI LL Filed Oct. 9, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwuemto'o 7 famed Z. ['firiafian.

Gummy so are attainedxbynmeans of: a'xconstruction Patented Nov. 6, 1928.

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TRACK DRILL.

1 Application filed October 9, 1926. Serial Noni 40,480;

This invention relates to improvements in I track drills of they kind employed in drilling holes through the webs of railway rails, I-

beams and. other structural steel, but is adapted more particularly to the use of drills m 1 holes in rai'lwayfrailst it is often necessary in railway constructionto drill holes in the webs of'railway rails for the purpose ofmaking .connecti'onsbetween adjacent. rails. Whenever anew rail is to be inserted, the ends of the rail must be drilled to fit the openings :in the fish plates and as this must be .done'out on the section,

it has i heretofore been i accomplished almost exclusively by hand powered drills which 7 n are very slowand which therefore delay'the can be applied to it from the gasoline, engine,

operation to a considerable extent. It is the objectof this invention to producea drill constructionthat isi-adapted to be operated b powerandwhioh is provided with a suit" alile connection; by means of which power which is usually provided on t-heconstruction cars that aroused by the track men. In this manner the holes can bevery quickly drilled with a minimum amount of labor which speeds up the operation of replacing rails and reduces the expense incidentthereto. The above and other objects which may be- 3 come apparent as the. description proceeds i which power isitransmitted to it from the gasoline engine I Fig.2 isa fragmentary detail view showing aflexible shaft substituted for the power connection illustrated in Figure 1.

Fig.3 is asectiontaken on (line 3-3,.Fig.

1,. and is intendedtoyshow the worm gear drive and the construction ofthe gear hous-- in i p a.

Fig.4 is a section taken'on line 4-4, Fig.

7 and shows the construction ofthe thrust bearin and the cam whichwis associated therewith;

Fig; 5-is a view taken along l1ne5-5 F g. 1, with parts brokenaway to better disclose the construction; 1 i

Fig. dis a section taken on. line 6+6, Fig.5;

Fig. is asectiontaken on line 7 -;7,,Figv

5; and-v Fig; 8 is a section taken-online 8- 8,

Fig. 5.

In the drawing reference numeral 1 represents across SGCtlOII of an ordinary. railway rail of well known construction and 2 indi cates the webwhich is to be perforatedfor the reception of bolts, while numeral 3 indicates the fly-wheel of an internal combustion engine,- which is usually provided ontheconstruction carsand} which furnish the power for moving the cars along the track and 8 are parts 'of a rectanglewhoseiends are formed by transverse members 9 and 10 whose ends are preferably.electrowelded to the side members soas to-form a substantial unitary. construction. The transverse member 10 connects the sidemembers 7 and 8 a short distance back from the ends of these side members and another transverse member 11 is connected to the ends of the members 7 and 8'so as to form a space for the reception of the worm wheel 12. A plate 13 is connected to the lower edgesof members lfl and 11 and also to the side members 7 and 8 so as to forma box Whose open upper end is closed by means of a cover section 14. This cover section may bexheld'in place by screws 15 in the manner shownin Figure 5. A trans verse member 16 is electrowelded to the inner sides of the side members? and 8 and is placeda short distance from the inner-surface of the end piece 9 soas to:form a space for the reception of the gear 17 and the pinion 18. y The transverse .member 11 has a protruding hub 19 which formsa bearing for the shaft 20. The outer end of this shaft is provided with a chuck21 and the other end portion 24, which is provided withv screw threads 25. The reduced cylindrical end 22 has an annular groove 26 which isadapted to receive the pin 27 which keeps the partsy20' and 24 from moving longitudinally with respect to each other. A thrust bearing comprising ball races 28 and 529 is placed between the end of the shaft 20 and the end of the part :24. so as to produce a frictionless hearing which resists the thrust due to the feed mechanism, which will be hereinafter more fully described. A cam 30 surrounds the end of the shaft 20 and is nonrotatably attached to the latter. The shaft 20 has a slot 31 which extends substantially the entire length thereof and which is adapted to receive the spline 32 which is integral with or connected to the worm gear 12 so as to prevent the latter from rotating with respect to the shaft and to permit the shaft to slide transversely through the gear. The transverse members 9 and 16 are provided with perforatltl tions through which the threaded end 25 extends in the manner shown in Figure The gear wheel 17 has a threaded opening which cooperates with the threads 25 and therefore when this gear is rotated it will move the parts 2% and Q longitudinally and feed the drill. The pinion 18 is secured to shaft 33 which is journalled in the transverse parts 9 and 16 and is provided with a reaiwvardly extending portion 34; to which the handle is secured. By rotating the handle 35, the gear 17 will be rotated and this, of course, will feed the drill in the manner indicated. The threaded portion 24: of the shaft is provided with a longitudinal groove 86 which is adapted to receive a spline 37 carried by the end member 9 and which cooperates with this groove to prevent the threaded portion from rotating so as to get the feeding action desired. The hook members 4 and are spaced by means of a ferrule 38 and are clamped against the ends of the ferrule by means of a bolt 39 (Fig. 5).

The worm gear 12 which is nonrotatably secured to the shaft is rotated by means of a worm 4-0 which is secured to or formed integral with the shaft 41. The lower end of this shaft, which has been indicated by reference numeral 42, is rotatably mounted in a bearing in the bottom member 13, while the upper reduced end 43 rotates, in a bearing 4i in the cover plate 14:. The end 43 extends upwardly beyond the top of the cover member and has a square section 45 to which the power shaft may be attached. \Vhen the worm is rotated, it is obvious that the worm gear 12 will be rotated and this will cause the shaft 20 to turn and to rotate the drill 46 which is secured in the chuck 21. If we now suppose that power is supplied to the square end 4-5 for the purpose of rotating the latter, it is evident that the drill will be rotated and it 'an be fed towards the rail by means of the handle 35. If an automatic feed mechanism were not desired, it is evident that the parts already connected would be sufficient to enable the device to function as a drill. It is,

however, desirable that the feeding shall be automatic and for this purpose I have provided an eccentric 30 which rotates with the shaft 20. This eccentric contacts with a roller i? that is pivoted to the arms 48 and -18) which are nonrotatably secured to the shaft 50, whose ends are pivoted in the transverse bars 10 and 16. The arm 48 extends to both sides of the shaft 50 in the manner indicated in Figure (5 and the upper portion of this arm has been designated by reference numeral 51. The upper end of arm 51 is bent transversely and a pawl 52 is pivotally attached thereto by means of a pin .33. It coil spring 54- (Fig. 0) has its ends abutting the sidimember 7 and the lower end of the arm 4% so as to urge the roller towards the cam. .Vhen the shaft 20 and the cam 3t) are rotated. it is evident that the roller 47 will be moved towards and away from the axis of the sba ft 20, thereby oscillating the arm 51 and the pawl The pawl is provided with a sharp end which is adapted to engage the teeth in the gear wheel 17 so as to step this gear wheel around one tooth for every revolution of the. shaft 20. This produces an automatic feed which makes it unnecessary to one play the manual feed device except for moving the drill towards the web when the operation is started and for withdrawing the same after the hole has been completed. In order to provide a support for the mechanism so that it will rest firmly on the road bed, I have connected the sides 7 and 8 by means of a yoke member 56 whose ends are secured to the side members by means of rivets 57. A bar 58 is pivoted intermediate its ends to the base of this yoke member by means of rivet The bar 58 can be moved transversely when the drill is in operation and longitudinally when the drill is to be transported.

It has been customary to operate drills of this type by hand for the reason that they are used along the track where no power has been available. It is now the almost universal practice to equip the so-called hand cars with an internal combustion engine and therefore the workmen have an available source of power for operating the drill. In Fig. 1 I have shown a fly-wheel 3 which is part of the engine referred to. I have provided a socket (30 which is secured to the outside of the wheel 3 by means of bolts 61. This socket has an inwardly projecting bolt or pin 62 which is adapted to engage a slot 63 in the plug 64. This plug is attached to the outer end of the tubular shaft section 65 by means of a universal joint (36. The tubular part (35 has a noncircular cross section and has telescopically connectedtherewith a rod 67 which has a cross section that fits the interior of the part 65. A universal joint 68 connects the end of rod (57 with the shalt 69 which is journalled in the bearing 70 of the housing 71. A bevel gear 72 is connected to the inner emma end of the shaft 69 and-this meshes with a similar gear wheel73 on the upperend of the shaft 74 which has a telescopic, butnonrotatable connection with the tubular shaft por-' tion 7 5, whose lower end has a noncircular socket that receives the lug-45. The hous ing 71 is supported on t 1e upper end of the an position ofthe engine.

ofthe housing.

uprights 76 and 77 whose lower ends are bolted to the side 8-and cover 14 respectively .It is apparent from the above description taken in connection with Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawing that when the fly-wheel 3 is rotated,

the drill will also bejmade to rotate and therefore the holes can be speedily drilled. The hand car may be left standing on'the track or may be placed to one side as may be desired as the flexibility and extensibility of the power transmitting mechanism is sufficient to permit adjustmentto bemade for possible to greatly reduce the cost and labor incident to the repair'and maintenance of railway tracks. o 7

Having described my invention what I claim as new is: i

A power, operated track drill comprising,

tion for track drills, which adapts the drill to be operated by power and which makes it in combination, a substantially rectangular framework having a closed compartment at one end, a two-part shaft extending through said framework, .a worm wheel within the compartment, said gear being slidably but nonrotat-ably connected with the shaft, a

cover member removably secured to the framework and forming one side of said compartment, a worm journaled in a bearing in the cover and operatively associated with the worm Wheel, one part of said shaft havincr a chuck for holding a drilland the other being provided with threads, means for keeping the threaded end from rotating, a nut secured to, the threaded end and means for rotating said nut when the worm wheel rotates the shaft, said means comprising a step byistep mechanlsm.

In testimony whereof I 'affix my signature.

JAMES L. CHRISTIAN. 

